This is the so far longest ride I made. I wanna attempt a personal BRM 200 before trying an actual BRM 200 ride. So, I saw a post on Strava from Trivandrum Bikers Club stating a 200 BRM ride to happen on August 15 this year and they have released the route map as well. I want to try the same route to check my abilities.
The last attempt that I tried is the previous Inter District Solo Ride 01 which is around 170 kms and I covered upper half of the route. I was lost in track on the way, the food I ate didn’t suit me, and that made me to call off the ride in the middle near Aryanad and returned to campus. But this time, I have successfully explored almost 90% of the marked route.
I started from the campus by around 05:40AM through back gate and reached Vithura where I will intersect with the BRM route. This Vithura to Aryanad is where I lost track last time and met with serious climbs that drained my energy. So, I want to properly map the route this time. I followed the map and reached the Peppara dam road. With admiration, I went through the road to Peppara dam and realised that in the mid way only. The sun rise view there was amazing, I saw both the sun rise behind the western ghats and moon setting behind me at the same time. I took the photos and videos of it.
After realizing that I lost track again, I went back and got the correct route and proceeded as per plan. I reached Aryanad and proceeded further towards the city along the planned route. Along the way, I was lost of track again and rode some more distance to get back on track. Then, I had breakfast in the city which is just a couple of appams, a coffee and a boild egg. I was checking the route and proceeded into the city and realized that the road is connecting me to the Vellayambalam junction.
From there I am familiar with the route to high way beach road. I reached the high way by confirming each turns on the map and started riding on the high way. I saw the bridge where I took sun rise pic with my bike during the inter-state ride 02. It was good memory. I proceeded further to join on the road to Venjaramoodu. I was in the mindset that if I feel ok when reaching Venjaramoodu, then I will proceed in the route, else I will turn back and reach campus through Nedumangad route.
I was feeling good when reaching Venjaramoodu and decided to go along the familiar route. Now, its only the high way and no confusing turns. I was riding quite well, had sugar cane juice and proceeded till Ayoor where I took a rest stop. It was already around 120 to 130 kms. Then, after Ayoor I proceeded to Anchal then took a rest stop at Punalur. There I met a KSRTC bus driver who just asked about the bike and where I come from. It was nice to have a small conversation with him.
While reaching Punalur, it started to rain. It was fun to ride with the rain, but the rain stopped when reaching Punalur, where I took a rest stop and had a juice. After that I proceeded to reach Thenmala. While going to Thenmala, I started to feel low energy. I took another rest stop at a bus stop in the Thenmala road at Punalur itself, because I remember that road to Thenmala to be with climbs and no shop where I can refuel when I went through last time.
After the rest stop, I proceeded to Thenmala. But, surprisingly, the road was with shops and small villages. I must have imagined something else last time because of that sickness I had. I reached Thenmala and decided to take the short route that will connect me to Kulathupuzha road directly near the Kallada dam. Luckily, that road was the way for Thenmala eco tourism spot. That was a small surprise with that I reached the dam road.
I didn’t refuel on the way thinking that the food I already had is enough and any more if I have means I may need bathroom breaks. I proceeded from Thenmala to Kulathupuzha, when I started to feel hungry. I was carrying two energy bars with me and I had one out of them. I had a banana and a sprite bottle on the way, where I met another tamilian who said that he has a fertile land on rubbers nearby. I didn’t talk much, just answered his questions and moved on.
This was where I stated to feel the energy drain. I was taking rest stops at every village I visit up until Palode. I felt the climbs to be hard on me which I crossed last time without even realizing them. I reached Palode and felt happy that I will reach the campus easily now.
On the way my mobile phone was about to run out of charge. I was carrying a power bank with me with which I recharged my phone so that the ride recording will not be interrupted. I reached Palode and got internal energy that boosted me to reach Chullimanoor in single stretch. There I took a small break to reset my heart beat and proceeded to the campus.
After reaching campus I had dinner and closed my ride. I reached by around 07:00PM. It was a fantastic ride. The next day was a complete rest day for me. I couldn’t do anything and in dire need of rest. I was having food properly and taking rest through out the day. Later I askd chatgpt to give me an estimate of how much energy I would have burnt during the ride and it gave a rough estimate of around 5000 kcals. That was surprising to me. And it warned me that I was riding in deficit mode due to which I was tired in the second half of the ride.
Chatgpt told that if I refuel properly means I could have completed the ride within 11 hours including rest times. The next ride will be a proper one with appropriate fuel intake.
Below are the photos and videos recorded during the ride.
Below is the Strava log of this ride.
